Film cooling is a key technology for improving the thermal efficiency and power output of gas turbines. The trailing-edge section of high-pressure turbine blades can be efficiently cooled by ejecting a film over a cutback on the pressure side of the blade. In this paper, results of Large-Eddy Simulations (LES) are presented that match an existing experimental setup. Altogether, eight simulations with the blowing ratio M varying as the only parameter were performed over a range from M = 0.35 to 1.4. Reasonably good agreement between LES and experiments were obtained for flow field statistics and adiabatic film-cooling effectiveness η aw . Within a limited range of blowing ratios, an increase in the blowing ratio results in a counter-intuitive decrease of the cooling effectiveness. The present work suggests a mechanism that can explain this behavior. The visualization and analysis of large coherent structures showed that there exists dominant clockwise-rotating structures that can give rise to a combined upstream-and wall-directed turbulent heat flux. This turbulent heat flux represents the main contribution of the total heat flux and causes a significantly intensified thermal mixing process, which in turn results in the counter-intuitive decrease of the cooling effectiveness.

Large-eddy simulations (LES) and Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) calculations of the flow in two asymmetric three-dimensional diffusers were performed. The setup was chosen to match an existing experiment with separation. Both diffusers possess the same expansion ratio but differ in performance. The aim of the present study is to find the least expensive method to reliably and with reasonable accuracy account for the impact of the change in geometry. RANS calculations failed to predict both the extent and location of the separation. In contrast, LES with wall-functions delivered results within the accuracy of the experimental data.

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Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) calculations and Large-Eddy Simulations (LES) of the flow in two asymmetric three-dimensional diffusers were performed. The numerical setup was chosen to be in compliance with previous experiments. The aim of the present study is to find the least expensive method to compute reliably and accurately the impact of geometric sensitivity on the flow. RANS calculations fail to predict both the extent and location of the three-dimensional separation bubble. In contrast, LES is able to determine the amount of reverse flow and the pressure coefficient within the accuracy of experimental data.

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